1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card connector for a memory card, an IC card or a card-type cartridge which is used in memory-capable electronic devices (e.g., cellular phones, personal computers, various PDAs, digital cameras and digital audiovisual apparatuses) or home game machines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Memory cards and IC cards, in which IC and memory chips are integrated, and also card-type cartridges are widely used in memory-capable electronic devices (e.g., cellular phones, personal computers, various PDAs (personal digital assistances), digital cameras and digital audiovisual apparatuses) and home game machines. Card connectors are used to connect such memory cards, IC cards or card-type cartridges to circuit boards of the memory-capable electronic devices.
FIGS. 10 and 11 show an example of a conventional card connector disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-367720. This card connector is provided with a housing 122, into and from which a removable card (memory card) 121 can be inserted and ejected, respectively. The housing 122 is composed of a housing body 123 and a housing cover 124 which covers the top of the housing body 123. The housing body 123 is provided with a thin bottom plate 125, a front wall 126 formed at the front end of the housing 123, and a side wall 127 formed on one side of the housing 123. Ten electric terminals 128 are arranged side-by-side in parallel to one another along the front end of the bottom plate 125.
An arm receiving groove 134 is formed in an inner surface of the front wall 126, and a circular groove (hole) 135 (see FIG. 11) having a small diameter is formed in the front portion of the arm receiving groove 134. A front end 137 of an arm 136 is fitted into the circular groove 135 to be pivoted thereat. In addition, a spring receiving recess 139 is formed in the front wall 126. Additionally, the housing body 123 is provided at a rear corner thereof with a corner wall 140, and a spring accommodation groove 141 is formed in the corner wall 140.
Opposite side edges of the housing cover 124 are bent downward so that the housing cover 124 can be fitted on the housing body 123 to cover the top of the housing body 123. In addition, the housing cover 124 is provided in the vicinity of one edge thereof with an arm retaining leaf 143 which is formed by bending a part of the housing cover 124 to press the arm 136 downward.
A slider 144 is installed on the bottom plate 125 on one edge thereof. The slider 144 is provided with a substantially rectangular-bar-shaped guide portion 145 and a contacting portion 146 which projects inwards from the front end of the guide portion 145 to allow the front end of the removable card 121 to come in contact with the contacting portion 146. In addition, a heart-shaped cam 147 including an engaging recess 148 is formed in a top surface of the guide portion 145 to allow a rear end 138 of the arm 136 to move slidingly along the heart-shaped cam 147.
Additionally, a spring accommodation groove 149 is formed in the guide portion 145 at the rear end thereof. Front and rear ends of an extension coil spring 151 are accommodated in the spring accommodation groove 149 and the spring accommodation groove 141 to be supported thereby, respectively. A cutout portion 156 is formed in the contacting portion 146 so that the rear end of a compression coil spring 158 is engaged in the cutout portion 156.
Inserting the removable card 121 into the housing 122 causes the slider 144 to move forward against the resilient force of the extension coil spring 151 and causes the compression coil spring 158 to be engaged in the spring receiving recess 139 and compressed. Subsequently, the rear end 138 of the arm 136 is engaged with the engaging recess 148 of the heart-shaped cam 147 to thereby lock the slider 144 and the removable card 121 in their respective insertion/installation positions in which contacts of the removable card 121 are in contact with the electric terminals 128.
To eject the removable card 121 in this state, the removable card 121 is further pressed into the housing 122 beyond the insertion/installation position. Pressing the removable card 121 in this manner causes the rear end 138 of the arm 136 to be disengaged from the engaging recess 148. Thereupon, the slider 144 and the removable card 121 move rearward (downward as viewed in FIG. 11) by the resilient force of the compression coil spring 158, so that the aforementioned contacts of the removable card 121 are disengaged from the electric terminals 128, and then the slider 144 and the removable card 121 further move rearward to their respective ejected positions.
However, in the above described card connector, since the slider 144 and the removable card 121 are biased in a direction to eject the removable card 121 by the two coil springs, i.e., the extension coil spring 151 and the compression coil spring 158, there is a possibility of the removable card 121 popping out of the housing 122 suddenly beyond the ejected position and accidentally falling out when the removable card 121 is ejected. Additionally, in the case where a shock is applied to the card connector, there is a possibility of the removable card 121 being unlocked, and thereby popping out by accident.
In view of this conventional card connector, to prevent such a card pop-out problem from occurring, a card connector in which a leaf spring instead of the extension coil spring 151 is disposed between the rear end of a slider and the rear end of a housing along the card eject direction has been proposed, for example in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-203231. In this publication, it is disclosed that a shock created by a movement of the slider and transmitted to the removable card at the time of ejection of the removable card can be reduced since this shock is cushioned by the elasticity of the leaf spring, thereby making it possible to prevent the removable card from popping out accidentally.
However, although this card connector, in which the leaf spring is disposed as a cushioning member (or a shock absorber) for cushioning shock at the time of ejection of the removable card, has the effect of preventing the removable card from popping out accidentally, there is a problem with shock that is caused by a collision between the slider and the leaf spring which occurs from a state where the slider and the leaf spring are away from each other; moreover, it is necessary to reduce the size of the leaf spring in recently-manufactured small, light-weight card connectors, and accordingly, there is a problem with providing a sufficient stroke or load of the leaf spring necessary for absorbing the shock created upon the slider stopping.